Roosevelt Island Bridge
Coordinates: 40 ° 45 ′ 48 ″ N , 73 ° 56 ′ 44 ″ W.
| Roosevelt Island Bridge | ||
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| use | Road bridge, 2-lane; Footpath and bike path |
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| Crossing of | East River | |
| place | New York City | |
| Entertained by | New York City Department of Transportation | |
| construction | Lift bridge | |
| overall length | 877 m | |
| width | 12 m | |
| Longest span | 127 m | |
| vehicles per day | 8,313 | |
| start of building | 1952 | |
| opening | May 18, 1955 | |
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The Roosevelt Island Bridge is a lift bridge in New York City that connects Roosevelt Island in Manhattan to Astoria in Queens and crosses the eastern channel of the East River . It is the only way to the island for car and foot traffic (without using public transport).
history
Construction of the bridge began on March 17, 1952 and cost $ 6.5 million. It was opened on May 18, 1955 as the Welfare Island Bridge. The name was changed to Roosevelt Island Bridge in 1973. When the bridge is open, it offers ships a vertical clearance of 30 meters. It is 12 meters wide and its total length including the driveways is 877 meters. The main span is 127 meters.
Before the bridge was built, vehicles could only reach Roosevelt Island by using an elevator on the Queensboro Bridge . The elevator was demolished in 1970.
The Roosevelt Island Bridge offers direct access to a parking garage. The car park was completed in 1974 and expanded in 1990.
In 2001, the New York City Department of Transportation , New York City Department of Transportation , considered converting the Roosevelt Island Bridge into a permanent bridge to reduce the cost of its maintenance. The bridge is seldom opened as most of the ships that pass Roosevelt Island use the West Channel of the East River. Most of the bridge openings take place in September during the General Assembly at the United Nations , when the western channel of the East River is closed for safety reasons.
